FORMER TESLA BOARD MEMBER STEVE WESTLY ON ELON MUSK, TESLA, AND VENTURE CAPITAL

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Steve Westly, former Tesla board member and founder of The Westly Group, shares his unique insights into Tesla's journey and the broader automotive and energy industries. Westly highlights Elon Musk's visionary leadership, comparing him to Thomas Edison and Steve Jobs, and emphasizes Tesla's disruptive impact on conservative industries. He details his personal involvement, from knowing Musk before Tesla to joining the board, and underscores the company's strategic advantages in battery production, direct sales, and over-the-air services. Westly critiques the high valuations of EV startups like Rivian and Lucid, contrasting them with Tesla's established scale and profitability. He also discusses the competitive landscape, identifying Volkswagen and Chinese manufacturers (NIO, BYD) as credible challengers, while noting Ford's recent strategic split as a necessary, albeit late, move. The conversation extends to Tesla's energy business, autonomous driving technology (advocating for lidar despite Musk's stance), and the future of mobility, predicting a significant reduction in car sales due to autonomous ride-hailing. Westly also touches on California's economic resilience and the emerging trend of green supply chain traceability.